Mentalist Episode Tag: Blinking Red Light, 4x7
by Donnamour1969
Summary: Picks up right where the episode leaves off.  Lisbon waits for Jane at the crime scene.  Major spoilers: DO NOT read until you've watched the episode! No copyright infringement intended.


Sorry for the technical difficulties with this tag. I hope you were able to find it easily.

A/N: Was that episode awesome, or what? Jane/Simon were equally brilliant. And there were so many great scenes: Lisbon getting mentalist tips from Jane, Jane changing a tire (lol); Jane on that park bench with Panzer, the women in the creepy guy's house, Jane on TV, and, naturally, the killer (literally) ending! Wow!

I hope this tag isn't superfluous, but it fed my desire to have more Lisbon/Jane interaction, so here it is...Hope you like it.

**Episode Tag, "Blinking Red Light," 4x7**

Jane stayed at the crime scene for hours, staring at the grotesquely familiar red face on the wall long after the coroner took Panzer's body away. Lisbon stayed too, watching him from a distance, there if he should need her. Cho had taken the company SUV back to the CBI for her, so she'd have an excuse to hitch a ride with Jane. She didn't want him to be alone after this, so she waited.

Finally, at around three in the morning, Jane turned away from the macabre diorama of blood and death and walked slowly to his car in the darkness. He was surprised to see Lisbon standing beside it. The rest of the team and other police had left long before, save one man who stood outside the yellow tape, guarding the scene from any sickos who might want a memento from Red John's apparent resurrection.

"Lisbon," he said simply.

"My car's gone," she told him with a small smile. "Can I bum a ride?"

He looked at her suspiciously, but went around to open the passenger's side door for her. He got in on his side and they sat a moment in silence, staring out into the night.

"I heard them," he said finally.

"Who?"

"The other cops. Rigsby included."

"What did they say?" she asked softly.

"'He was wrong. He got the wrong guy.' Other words to that effect."

Although he couldn't see her shrug, he felt it. "But you were ultimately right; they just didn't know."

"I knew within an hour after I shot Carter, when the police told me there was no gun by his body. I should have told everyone it wasn't him, taken my chances defending myself against killing Timothy Carter, not using Red John to beat a murder rap."

"But you didn't know for sure that man wasn't Red John. The jury thought he was. _I _thought he was. And if you hadn't kept up your claim that you'd killed the man who killed your family, you would have lost the sympathy vote, Jane. You'd be in prison right now, and Red John would be killing more innocent people while you were locked away, unable to help track him down."

"I guess I have to just accept the fact that it's no use trying to keep secrets from him, Lisbon. Red John didn't care whether I knew he was alive or not. He killed anyway. His ego outweighs any fun he might have toying with me."

"Look on the bright side, Jane. At least this time it was someone who deserved it."

His head turned sharply to look at her. It was totally unlike her to say something like that, even though it was what they both were thinking. But Panzer hadn't been convicted of anything, and there had been no real proof he'd been the San Joaquin killer, just Jane's gut feeling. He supposed the last few months had changed her perspective more than he'd thought.

"You believed me then," he said. "About Panzer."

"Of course. You said go with my instincts; that's what I'm doing. Well, going with yours, I suppose. Rarely are you wrong, but even with Carter, you saw the psychopath in his eyes. If you hadn't, nothing that he'd said at the mall would have convinced you he was Red John."

"Thank for the vote of confidence, Lisbon." They retreated to silence again, while Jane worked up the nerve to open another can of worms. "I suppose you're mad at me for going on television, though," he said sheepishly. "I've been patiently waiting for you to lay into me for that." She could hear the faint smile in his voice.

"I was at first. I didn't give a fig about Panzer's life, but Red John could just have easily focused his wrath on you. It might have been you tonight; maybe he was finally through playing with you."

Jane made a faint scoffing noise. "He'll never be finished with me, not until I'm driven as mad as he is. But I'll tell you something, Lisbon, while I was on that stage, looking at the camera, I—I knew he was watching. I felt it. It was like I'd crawled into his mind and was connecting with him across the airwaves. It was very surreal. I knew Panzer was dead the moment the name _Red John_ left that bastard's mouth. I all but signed his death warrant."

He glanced over at her, and even in the dim glow from the crime scene lights, he saw the look of horror flash briefly across her face as the enormity of what he really had done began to sink in.

"Oh, my God. You set him up, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about, Lisbon?" But he was looking straight ahead, and his words lacked inflection.

"You're the one who brought up Red John in that interview. You knew Panzer would challenge a fellow killer, had the ego to believe he was better at it than Red John ever was, because in the eyes of the world, you killed him. You used Panzer to flush Red John out, and you used Red John to take care of Panzer."

"You make me sound like an evil genius." He made a sound like a soft laugh, but she could tell he was only half kidding.

"Aren't you? I mean, what you did was—I really don't know what to call it. I feel like I should be morally outraged, but somehow I can't muster it. I guess I'm just in shock, but I really don't know how I _could_ be, considering who I'm dealing with here. Dear God, you really do know Red John better than anyone."

"Aw, Lisbon, don't make the same mistake I did. Just when I think I know him, believe I can predict what he might do, he sends an imposter over to show me I don't know him at all. But I'm beginning to see there is a connection between us, Lisbon, an invisible link that won't be broken until one of us is dead."

She didn't bother denying it, because she knew he was right, just as she knew telling him to give up before that happened was a futile endeavor. One day, she might very well find him dead, a bloody smile grinning down at his mutilated body. She shivered, trying to shake the image from her mind.

She nearly jumped when he started the car.

"It's late," he told her. "Time for all good CBI agents to go to sleep."

"CBI consultants too," she said meaningfully. His grin flashed briefly in the low light, then he became serious again.

"You know better than that, my friend, especially on nights like tonight."

"There's an all-night diner down the road," she ventured. "It's a long drive back to Sacramento, and I sure could use a cup of coffee."

He looked at her gratefully. If he was going to be awake all night anyway, there was no better company that he could think of. He didn't feel guilty for what he'd done, not one part of him, but Lisbon obviously needed to understand what had happened. He'd be happy to go over every detail. Red John was back, and it was clear to Jane that the killer was capable of being manipulated. This was a victory. It opened up a new a new angle he'd never really contemplated before. It would continue to be a dangerous game, but Jane felt that for the first time, he had found a way to pull their link closer. It would certainly merit more thought.

"Some tea actually sounds like just the thing, Lisbon."

And he drove away, leaving behind yet another red face staring into the darkness.

A/N: Thanks for reading this. I know there wasn't much comedy here, but I wouldn't have known where to put it, lol. I hope you enjoyed it enough to review.

P.S.: Another reason to join Twitter: Simon Baker tweeted live last night for the west coast showing through his assistant, mattgossen. It was awesome, and he answered lots of questions.


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